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l\iiiix(; A Bui. LOCK ix Africa. 



HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 



HOW THE WORLD 
TRAVELS 



BY 



J^A. METHLEY, F.R.G.S. 



LLUSTRATED BY 

W. H. HOLLOWAY 



NEW YORK 
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 



PUBLISHERS 



is 



5 ■' 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PACK 

I. TRAVEL IN THE OLDEN DAYS - - - 1 

II. COACHING DAYS - - - - - 11 

IIL STRANGE VEHICLES OF EUROPE - - - 21 

IV. JOURNEYS THROUGH INDIA - - - 32 

V. THE CONVEYANCES OF CHINA AND JAPAN - 41 

VI. JOURNEYS THROUGH AFRICA - - - 52 

VII. JOURNEYS IN THE NEW WORLD - - - 63 

VIII. TRAVELLING IN THE WILDS - - - 74 

IX. THROUGH ICE AND SNOW - - - 84 

X. STRANGE TRAVEL IN STRANGE LANDS - - 95 

XI. TRAVEL OF YESTERDAY AND TO-DAY - - 105 

XII. THE TRAVEL OF TO-MORROW - - - 117 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



PREHISTORIC SLED 
EARLY CART WITH SOLID WHEELS 
EGYPTIAN CHARIOT 
ROMAN TRAVELLING CARRIAGE - 
ROMAN LITTER AND MOUNTING STOOL 
EARLY SIDE-SADDLE 
A MEDLEVAL COACH 
AN OLD FAMILY COACH - 
RIDING PILLION FASHION 
SEDAN CHAIR 
POST-CHAISE 
IN THE WILD WEST 

SEASIDE CARRIAGE DRAWN BY GOAT 
BELGIAN DOG-DRAWN CART 
SEDAN CHAIR, CONSTANTINOPLE 
TURKISH MOURNING CAR 
SCHIESSEL CAR - 
SICILIAN CART - 
CAR IN COLOMBO, CEYLON 
BOMBAY CAR WITH HOOD 
CONVEYANCE FOR ZENANA LADIES 

vii 



3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
9 

12 
13 
U 
15 
16 
17 
22 
25 
26 
27 
29 
30 
33 
35 
36 



Vlll 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



EKKA - - - - 

CAMELS HARNESSED TO CARRIAGE 

CHINESE COUNTRY CHAIR 

MULE PALANQUIN 

WHEELBARROW OMNIBUS 

A TRAVELLING TRADESMAN 

CHINESE CART - 

JAPANESE RICKSHAW 

CAPE BULLOCK WAGON 

DURBAN RICKSHAAY 

BEIRA TRAM 

) 
CAIRO CART 

IN MOROCCO 

AMERICAN TROTTER 

QUEBEC CALECHE 

LLAMAS - - - - 

CUBAN VOLANTE 

AUSTRALIAN BOUNDARY RIDER - 

COUNTRY COACH, AUSTRALIA - 

MIXED TRANSPORT IN NIGERIA - 

CAMEL WITH BRIDAL BOWER - 

CARRIERS IN THE FOREST 

MONO-RAIL WORKED BY NATIVES 

ICE-BOAT 

REINDEER AND SLEDGE - 

EXPLORERS DRAGGING SLEDGE - 

INDIAN TRAPPER ON SNOW-SHOES 

ENGLISH SLEDGE 



PAGE 

37 
38 
43 
44 
45 
46 
48 
49 
53 
55 
58 
59 
61 
64 
65 
68 
69 
71 
72 
76 
78 
80 
82 
86 
87 
88 
90 
92 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



IX 



A HAPPY PARTY IN AUSTRALIA - 

BULLOCK CARRO, MADEIRA . - - - 

TRAVELLING HAMMOCK, MADEIRA 

CARRO DA MONTE, MADEIRA . . - - 

BULLOCK CART, AZORES- - . - • 

MADAGASCAR LITTER - - - - - 

PONDICHERRY PUSH-PUSH . - - - 

EARLY ENGINE ------ 

WHITE SUDAN TRAIN . - - - - 

MOUNTAIN RAILWAY^ - - - 

HIGH BICYCLE ------ 

EARLY CYCLE ------ 

EARLY MOTOR-CAR . . - - - 

MONO-RAIL CAR, WITH GYROSCOPE 
OVERHEAD TROLLY - - . - 

MONOPLANE, THE FIRST TYPE TO CROSS THE CHANNEL 
WATERPLANE, BIPLANE, AND SCOUT BALLOON - 



PAOB 

93 
96 

rt 

98 
99 
101 
103 
107 
108 
109 



1 

1 

1 

1 

121 

123 

125 



.^- 



HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

CHAPTER I 

TRAVEL IN THE OLDEN DAYS 

" y^^OACH, carriage, wheelbarrow, cart": 
i . we have all, most likely, repeated these 
^^ words again and again, as we counted the 
cherry-stones out of a pie, the petals of a daisy, or 
the tufts on a blade of grass, and we have hoped, 
as we counted, that Dame Fortune would give 
us a coach or a carriage to drive to church in on 
our wedding morning. 

A cart seemed a very commonplace affair, and 
a wheelbarrow was almost too absurd to be pos- 
sible. Yet there are countries where people 
actually ride in wheelbarrows and in other con- 
veyances even more quaint and unusual. 

It will be interesting, perhaps, to borrow a 
magic carpet for a little while, or the cap of 
Fortunatus, and travel round the world and back 
through the ages of history, so that we may see 
the strange vehicles that are in use to-day, and 

1 



2 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

those in which ovir ancestors made their journeys 
hundreds of years ago. 

The first conveyances of all, used in far-away 
prehistoric days and later still in wild uncivilised 
lands, were simply rough sleds on which heavy 
loads were dragged. Later, circular slabs of wood 
were cut from the trunks of trees to serve as 
wheels, and, instead of pulling these primitive 
carts themselves, the men trained oxen to do the 
work. 

As time went on improvements were made, 
and we find pictures of chariots on the walls of 
the ancient, ruined cities of Egypt and Assyria. 

The Bible tells us of the chariots and horsemen 
of Pharaoh, who were overwhelmed in the Red 
Sea, but more than two hundred years before 
that time King Thutmosis of Egypt had a won- 
derful war chariot, which, in 1903, was discovered 
in his tomb at Thebes. It is now in the museum 
at Cairo, and on it are painted pictures of 
Thutmosis driving in the chariot, charging his 
enemies and shooting arrows at them. 

Other nations also used chariots in warfare, 
and we read that they carried two men, one being 
the driver and the other the warrior. In a close 
encounter the soldier alighted and fought on foot. 
Some of these chariots were armed with great 
hooks or scythes fastened to the wheels. Julius 



TRAVEL IN THE OLDEN DAYS 3 




PREHISTORIC SLED. 



Caesar tells us that when he invaded Britain the 
chief, Cassivelaunus, had more than four thousand 



4 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

chariots, and he describes how skilfully they 
were handled by their drivers. 

'* In the most steep and dijBBcult places," he 
says, '' they could stop their horses at full stretch, 
turn them which way they pleased, run along the 




EARLY CART WITH SOLID WHEELS. 



pole, rest on the harness, and throw themselves 
back into the chariots with incredible dexterity." 
In Britain, at that time, there were also con- 
veyances for travelling, called henna, and also 
larger carriages with four wheels, which carried 
the wives and children of the warriors and their 
baggage. 



TRAVEL IN THE OLDEN DAYS 5 

The Romans themselves used chariots both for 
warhke and peaceful purposes, and they were 
named biga, triga, or quadriga, according to the 
number of horses by which they were drawn. 
Chariot races were an important feature of the 




EGYPTIAN CHARIOT. 



great festivals that took place in the Colosseum, 
and it is said that Nero once drove one with ten 
horses abreast. 

These racing chariots were, of course, lightly 
made and designed for speed, but there were 
other vehicles of great size and magnificence. 



6 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

which carried successful generals when they rode 
in triumph through Rome to celebrate their 
victories. This triumphal car was usually drawn 




ROMAN TRAVELLING CARRIAGE. 



by four white horses, but very often by lions, 
elephants, tigers, bears, leopards, or dogs. 

Other vehicles for more everyday use were to 
be seen in the streets of ancient cities, and in the 
paved roadways of Pompeii are deep ruts made 



TRAVEL IN THE OLDEN DAYS 7 

by the wheels of chariots nearly two thousand 
years ago. 

Litters were also used at that time, and Pliny 




ROMAN LITTER AND MOUNTING STOOL. 



calls them '* travellers' chambers." They were 
borne on shafts, and special slaves used to act as 
bearers. Roman ladies often travelled in covered 



8 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

carriages called carpenta, which .were gorgeously 
decorated. 

During the mediaeval ages carriages fell into 
disuse, or were only employed by women and 
invalids, or by kings and princes on ceremonial 
occasions. Charlemagne had a wonderful vehicle 
with richly ornamented wheels and an inlaid roof 
supported by columns, and the Crusaders on their 
march had with them large wagons for their 
baggage. 

In the fourteenth century new conveyances 
called whirlicotes and charettes were used. When 
King Richard II. married Anne of Denmark, 
the new queen entered London accompanied by 
her maids of honour, who drove in charettes, which 
were wagons with benches, painted red and lined 
with scarlet cloth. On London Bridge were 
crowds of people anxious to see the royal bride. 
In the confusion, one of the charettes was over- 
turned and the ladies thrown to the ground. 

Litters very much like those of Roman days 
were still to be seen in the fifteenth and sixteenth 
centuries. At her coronation Queen Elizabeth 
of York, dressed in white and with her golden 
hair loose over her shoulders, was carried through 
London in a rich litter, with a canopy over her 
head borne by four Knights of the Bath. 

Anne Boleyn, in 1553, was carried to her 



TRAVEL IN THE OLDEN DAYS 9 




EARLY SIDE-SADDLE. 



coronation in a litter covered with cloth of gold, 
and the two horses that supported it were clothed 
in white damask. 



10 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

During the Middle Ages vehicles were so few 
because the roads were very bad, and in many 
places there were only rough bridle-paths from 
one town to another. Riding was, therefore^ the 
principal means of transit, and horses, mules, and 
donkeys were used. Very large horses, the 
ancestors of our present cart-horses, were ridden 
by the knights, for a warrior in heavy mail could 
only be carried by a strong animal. This was 
especially the case when it was necessary for the 
horse itself to be also clothed in metal armour. 

The ladies also rode, and side-saddles were first 
introduced into England by Anne of Bohemia, 
the wife of Richard II. These saddles were very 
different from those of the present day, for they 
were like chairs placed sideways on the horses' 
backs. 

Pack-horses were much used in mediaeval 
times, and pictures show us long trains of these 
animals, each with its heavy load, wending their 
way along the rough > narrow pathways of old 
England. 



CHAPTER II 

COACHING DAYS 

COACHING days! The words carry us 
back a hundred years or more, and bring 
to our minds gay, romantic pictures of 
scarlet-clad postilions, prancing horses, and a 
rosy-faced driver with his long whip and quaint 
three-tiered cape. We seem to hear the merry 
sound of the horns, the ring of hoofs, and the 
rattle of harness, as the coach, with its passengers 
and piled baggage, clatters along a broad high 
road or draws up at the open door of some old- 
fashioned English inn. Those are the eighteenth- 
century days that we call to mind, the days when 
coaching was at its height, but we must go further 
back than that if we want to find the origin of this 
form of conveyance, and to see how it developed 
out of the clumsy wagons and quaint whirlicotes 
and charettes of mediaeval times. 

We first hear of coaches in the reign of Queen 
Elizabeth, and they are said to have been intro- 
duced into England in 1594 by a coachman who 
was a native of Holland. 

11 



12 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

There is an old picture of the great queen 
riding in one of her new equipages on some state 
occasion. It was open at the sides, had a high 




A MEDIEVAL COACH. 



roof decorated with waving plumes, and was 
drawn by two richly caparisoned horses. 

At first, it appears, coaches were reserved for 
the use of royalty, but Stowe tells us that '' after 
a while divers great ladies made them coaches 
and rid in them up and down the country, to the 



COACHING DAYS 



13 



great admiration of all beholders." He goes on 
to say that within twenty years coach-making 
became an important trade in England. 




AN OLD FAMILY COACH. 



These coaches were very different from those 
of later times, for they were open at the sides 
and the wheels were very small and low. In 
shape they were not unlike the state coach that 



14 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

is still used at coronations and other great 
occasions. 




RIDING PILLION FASHION. 



During the seventeenth century many altera- 
tions and improvements took place in coach- 



COACHING DAYS 



15 



building both in England and France, and in 
1620 we find Louis XIV. driving in a carriage 




SEDAN CHAIR. 



with glass sides. In the reign of this monarch, 
too, a curious light two- wheeled conveyance was 



16 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

introduced. It was called a fligiiette and very 
much resembled a modern dog-cart. 

In the eighteenth century greater progress was 
made as roads improved. Sedan chairs came into 




POST- CHAISE. 



use, and ladies rode pillion fashion, sitting on a 
cushion behind the saddle of the horseman. 

Hired carriages, too, began to be seen in the 
streets of Paris, and in 1625 they appeared in 



COACHING DAYS 



17 



London. Very few of them were allowed at first, 
but in 1634 an old sea-captain named Baily estab- 
lished a stand for hackney coaches near the May- 
pole in the Strand, and by the end of the century 




IN THE WILD WEST. 



there were no fewer than eight hundred of these 
vehicles in the City and suburbs. 

Stage coaches to carry both passengers and 
mails were the next innovation, and they were 
soon running regularly during summer on three 
of the principal high roads of England. 

2 



18 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

Nowadays, when we can travel from one end 
of the country to the other in a few hours, we 
should think the old conveyances very slow 
coaches indeed, but at the end of the seventeenth 
and during the eighteenth centuries they were 
thought marvels of swiftness. It took a week — 
only a week, people said then — to go from 
London to York, and the journey to Manchester 
could actually be made in four days. 

In Hogarth's pictures we can see what an early 
stage coach was like, with its large, clumsy 
wheels, high roof, and an enormous basket at the 
back in which baggage was carried and where 
passengers who wished to travel cheaply could 
sit. Later on this basket developed into an extra 
back seat, and in a picture painted in 1834 there 
is a coach with no less than three separate com- 
partments, besides having seats on the roof. 

In 1784 sixteen coaches left London every day, 
and it was one of the sights of the City to see 
them start from the General Post Office on their 
journeys. Each vehicle had an armed guard, 
for those were the days of highwaymen, and it 
was no uncommon thing for travellers to be 
stopped and robbed by gentlemen of the road. 

Dick Turpin was one of these thieves, and for 
a long time he terrorised Epping Forest and the 
outskirts of London, and another famous — or in- 



COACHING DAYS 19 

famous — robber was the young Frenchman 
Claud Duval, about whom many romantic tales 
are told. On one occasion he returned the jewels 
that he had stolen from a beautiful lady, on con- 
dition that she would descend from her carriage 
and dance a measure \vith him on the open road. 

It is difficult now to realise what our highways 
were like a hundred years ago and more, when 
coaching was at its height. Then the great roads 
were crowded with traffic, post-chaises, stage 
wagons, and pack-horses. Now it is sad to see 
the same roads narrowed to half their former 
width by broad borders of grass that have been 
allowed to grow. 

In those days there were many private travel- 
ling carriages besides the public coaches. A most 
interesting one is now in London at Madame 
Tussaud's. This is the wonderful coach which 
belonged to Napoleon Buonaparte. In it the 
great emperor rode back from Russia after the 
burning of Moscow, and later on from Cannes 
to Paris on his triumphal progress through 
France in 1815. 

It is said that Napoleon himself designed the 
fittings of this carriage, for it contained every- 
thing necessary for a long journey, and was in- 
tended to serve the purpose of a bedroom, a 
dining-room, and a kitchen. The coach was cap- 



20 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

tured by a German officer after the Battle of 
Waterloo, the emperor making his escape on 
horseback ; and having been purchased by a man 
named Bullock, it was exhibited through the 
whole of the United Kingdom. 

Gradually, as time went on, railways super- 
seded the picturesque old coaches. They con- 
tinued to be used, however, in less civilised 
countries, and can still be seen in the wild forest 
districts of Australia, New Zealand, and America. 

In the early pioneer days of the United States 
these coaches, with their loads of passengers and 
mails, sometimes encountered bands of Red 
Indians in their journeys across the prairies, and 
there are stories of terrible disasters and narrow 
escapes when the travellers were pursued and 
attacked by the savages. 

Those exciting times have passed away now, 
but coaches have not entirely disappeared. In 
Hyde Park on Sunday mornings before the War 
we could see the beautiful vehicles of the Four- 
in-hand Club to remind us of how our great- 
grandfathers and great-grandmothers travelled 
in the merry — but, perhaps, rather dangerous — 
days of old. 



CHAPTER III 

STRANGE VEHICLES OF EUROPE 

IT is not only in the far-away countries of tne 
world that we must travel in order to discover 
curious conveyances. Some are to be seen 
quite near at home, even in England itscK. We 
must remember that as a rule it is because things 
are unfamiliar that they seem quaint and curious, 
so let us try to imagine for a few moments that 
we are natives of some distant land who have 
come to pay a visit to Great Britain. 

We land at Dover, perhaps, or Newhaven, and 
go along the coast until we come to Brighton. 
It is quite a commonplace seaside town, no doubt, 
but, in our characters of observant foreigners, we 
shall notice many interesting things, and among 
them are several extraordinary little vehicles 
which are drawTi up in a row along the parade. 

What can they be, these tiny carriages, each 
with its wheels, shafts, and box-seat complete? 
Then we see that instead of a pony or donkey, 
the little conveyances are drawn by shaggy, long- 
horned goats. 

21 



22 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 




SEASIDE CARRIAGE DRAWN BY GOAT. 



STRANGE VEHICLES OF EUROPE 23 

The stranger stares with amusement at the 
dainty goat-chaises as they drive away filled with 
merry loads of children. Then he travels up to 
London and goes for a stroll in one of the poorer 
districts of the great city. 

It is a Bank Holiday perhaps, or a fine Satur- 
day in the summer-time, and the costermongers 
are off in their donkey-carts for a day's outing on 
Hampstead Heath. What a noise and clatter 
there is as the heavily laden little vehicles trot 
past, the donkeys looking so smart with their 
well-groomed coats and bright harness, and the 
drivers in the festive costumes decorated with 
pearl buttons that, surely, no foreign city in the 
world can rival ! 

We leave Whitechapel or the Old Kent Road 
behind us now, and journey out into the country, 
where, in some narrow green lane or on a breezy 
common, we overtake a yellow-painted gipsy van, 
hung about with baskets and brooms, and drawn 
by a sturdy, sleepy old horse. The owner of the 
van walks at his horse's head, or sits comfortably 
on the shaft, and through a little muslin-curtained 
window we catch a glimpse of his wife's dark face 
and long earrings. The gipsy children, ragged, 
bright-eyed urchins, lag behind, gathering 
flowers from the hedges, or run through the dust 
of the road to beg for pennies. 



24 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

Certainly England has its own share of strange 
vehicles, and there are others even more curious 
still to be seen in out-of-the-way districts. One 
of these is the two-wheeled cart used for farm- 
work in some parts of Wales, which, in shape, is 
almost exactly like the ancient chariots that were 
found in Britain by the Roman invaders when 
they landed between Walmer and Sandwich 
nearly two thousand years ago. 

Across St. George's Channel the quaint-look- 
ing Irish jaunting car is to be found, and then 
we travel back again to the continent of Europe. 
If we landed at Ostend or Antwerp before the 
War, most likely the first thing we should have 
seen would be a neat little cart loaded with 
vegetables or bright milk-cans, and harnessed to 
one or two large handsome dogs. 

In England most dogs, except those owned by 
farmers or sportsmen, lead idle lives, but this is 
not the case on the Continent. The dogs of 
Belgium, Holland, and Germany are quite con- 
tent to work — and to work hard, too — for their 
livings. There are numbers of them in the towns 
and villages, bravely dragging heavy loads, or 
lying down between the shafts and taking a well- 
earned nap in some shady corner of the cobbled 
street. 

In Belgium dogs were employed, not only for 



STRANGE VEHICLES OF EUROPE 25 




BELGIAN DOG-DRAWN CART. 



peaceful purposes, but in times of war for draw- 
ing ambulances, little ammunition wagons, and 
machine-guns. 



26 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 




SEDAN CHAIR, CONSTANTINOPLE. 



Oxen are also used to draw carts in most of the 
European countries, and very picturesque some 
of them are. In Turkey most elaborate bullock 



STRANGE VEHICLES OF EUROPE 27 

carts are used in some districts as mourning car- 
riages, and in them women are conveyed when 




TURKISH MOURNING CAR. 



they wish to visit the grave-yards. These carts 
are usually drawn by two animals which wear, 
fixed to their collars, large curved pieces of 



28 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

wood hung with tassels. The carts themselves 
are elaborately decorated, and while one man 
leads the bullocks another, staff in hand, walks 
at the side of the vehicle. 

There are many other strange conveyances to 
be seen in Turkey, perhaps the most curious of 
all being the sedan chairs which, although they 
have quite disappeared from other cities of 
Europe, are still used at night or on snowy days 
in the streets of Constantinople. In the 
eighteenth century sedan chairs were common 
in England, and in them the powdered and 
patched ladies went to their balls and routs, but 
it is strange to think of the quaint old-world 
conveyances being carried by stalwart Turkish 
porters along the dark, muddy streets of an 
Oriental city. These chairs, like the agricul- 
tural carts of Wales, come down to us from a 
past age, and another strange survival is seen at 
Schiessel, a village near Bremen, where the 
peasant girls drive to weddings and other festivi- 
ties in large wagons that, painted and decorated 
with garlands of flowers, are exactly like the old 
carts and charettes of the Middle Ages. 

Russia is a country where the carriages appear 
very strange to English eyes, for there three 
horses are driven abreast, and while the two outer 
animals gallop, the one in the centre is trained to 



STRANGE VEHICLES OF EUROPE 29 

trot. As may be imagined, a very skilful and 
experienced driver is necessary to guide these 
droskeys, as they are called, along the rough 
country roads or through the crowded streets of 
a city. 




SCHIESSEL CAR. 



Among other curious vehicles which may be 
seen in Europe are the small two-wheeled omni- 
buses of Portugal and the quaint, gaily-decorated 
carts of Sicily. These latter conveyances are 
picturesque and interesting, for they are covered 



30 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

with paintings of figures and landscapes, while 
even the wheels are ornamented and carved. 
Donkeys draw these brilliant little carts, and they 




SICILIAN CART. 



are usually used by fruit-sellers, but often they 
may be seen with a heavy load of passengers. 

Before the time of railways large public travel- 
ling carriages, called diligences, were used in 
France, Switzerland, and other European coun- 



STRANGE VEHICLES OF EUROPE 31 

tries. They were great, cumbrous vehicles 
carrying many passengers with their luggage. 
In out-of-the-way country districts, and among 
the mountains, these old-fashioned diligences are 
still to be seen, clattering along the dusty roads 
or toiling up the steep passes across the Alps. 



CHAPTER IV 

JOURNEYS THROUGH INDIA 

WE have seen some of the strange vehicles 
of England and Europe, and now we 
will travel eastward into Asia. There, 
as is only right, we must go first to India, for the 
great peninsula is one of King George's domin- 
ions, and its inhabitants, whether they be black, 
brown, or yellow, Hindoo or Mahomedan, 
civilised or savage, are as much British subjects 
as we are ourselves. 

India is an immense country, extending as it 
does from the Himalayas in the north to Point 
de Galle in the extreme south of Ceylon, and if 
we travel through the country we shall find many 
curious vehicles. Some of them are exactly the 
same as those which were in use hundreds of 
years ago, for India is a conservative land, and, 
although there are railways and tramways there 
now, while fine motor-cars speed along the roads, 
most of the natives are content with old ways, 
and travel through the country districts in the 

32 




State Elephant ix India. 



JOURNEYS THROUGH INDIA 33 

quaint bullock carts and palanquins that satisfied 
their ancestors in the days before the powers of 
steam and electricity had been discovered. 

We will begin with Colombo, as that is usually 




CAR IN COLOMBO, CEYLON. 



the place where travellers land on their journey 
to the East. When we go ashore from our 
steamer we either take rickshaws, which were 
introduced into the island from Japan in 1883, 
or else engage one of the little bullock carts and 

3 



34 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

drive through the picturesque, tree-shaded streets 
of the town. These bullock carts, or gharis, 
have two wheels and can be driven very quickly. 
They are provided with hoods, as the sun is very 
hot in tropical Ceylon. 

The bullocks are often decorated with elaborate 
patterns cut or branded into their hides, and the 
natives excuse this cruel practice by saying that 
not only does it distinguish the animals from each 
other and prevent their being stolen, but that it 
also protects them from rheumatism. 

There are many larger carts with quaint, palm- 
thatched roofs to be seen in Colombo. These 
are called hackeries and are found in many parts 
of India. It is often strange and amusing to see 
the numbers of natives, men, women, and child- 
ren, who are able to pack themselves into one of 
these vehicles. 

There are a great many different varieties of 
bullock carts in India. Those in Coonoor, for 
instance, have very high, narrow hoods, while in 
Bombay an awning is provided which stretches 
out over the bullock's back and shelters both 
passengers and driver. Another type of cart 
has four wheels and curious cage-like sides, while 
the wooden cover is provided with blinds and 
there is a rack for baggage on the roof. 

In Madras the raikla, a vehicle of quite a dif- 



JOURNEYS THROUGH INDIA 35 

ferent description, is seen. It appears to consist 
merely of two wheels and a tiny seat for the 
driver. These carts are very swift, and are used 
when great speed is required. 

In Ajmere the bullock carts have awnings sup- 
ported by four poles, and in Calcutta there are 




BOMBAY CAR WITH HOOD. 

elaborately decorated carriages drawn by gaily 
caparisoned oxen. 

Other interesting conveyances are those in 
which the zenana ladies travel. These are carts 
with a hood, and velvet curtains at the sides. 
When in use the curtains can be tightly drawn, 
so that passers-by cannot catch a glimpse of the 
passengers. 



36 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

Besides bullocks, ponies are used in India. 
They draw the ekkas, which are hght, hooded 



CONVEYANCE FOR ZENANA LADIES. 

carts, and the tongas, generally used by European 
travellers. 



JOURNEYS THROUGH INDIA 37 

In some districts of India camels draw car- 
riages, and we have a picture of a brougham into 




EKKA. 



which two of these ungainly animals are har- 
nessed. Very strange it looks, with the drivers 



38 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

seated on the humps of the camels and a rather 
unnecessary coachman perched on the box-seat 
of the vehicle. A more imposing equipage is the 




~*" 



CAMELS HARNESSED TO CARRIAGE. 



state carriage of the Begum of Bhopal, for this 
is drawn by four camels, splendidly caparisoned, 
and each .with a helmeted rider, while other ser- 



JOURNEYS THROUGH INDIA 39 

vants in quaint and gorgeous costumes are in 
attendance. The effect is very striking. 

Besides these elaborate conveyances there are 
several kinds of palanquins for use on rough roads 
and in mountainous districts. Palkis are litters 
attached to a single long pole which is carried on 
the shoulders of two or more men. Dhoolies are 
square boxes, rather like sedan chairs, in which 
native ladies sometimes travel, and the ruth is a 
palanquin on wheels. 

In India camels are ridden by both men and 
women. The latter often sit in kujawas, which 
are small square panniers made of wood and 
strong netting, and are hung on either side of 
the animal's back. 

Horses, bullocks, and donkeys are also ridden, 
but the most imposing steed in India is the ele- 
phant, and very magnificent these great animals 
look when they are carrying native rajahs or 
taking part in some religious procession. On 
these occasions the howdah, which is like a palan- 
quin perched on the elej)hant's back, is painted 
or covered with gold and silver, while the animal 
itself is often gaily coloured and has his tusks 
decorated with jewels and flowers. 

Elephants, however, are not always decked in 
this fantastic fashion, and often the howdah is a 
very simple affair rather like a huge basket in 



40 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

appearance. Sometimes the mahout, as the 
keeper of the elephant is called, sits on the 
animal's broad neck or rides on a rough wooden 
saddle. 

One of the most curious conveyances to be seen 
in India is a travelling theatre, v^hich consists of 
a large, railed platform fastened across the backs 
of two elephants which walk side by side. This 
strange moving stage figures in wedding proces- 
sions and other festivals, and during its passage 
through the streets of a town dancing girls give 
performances on the platform, which is brightly 
illuminated. 

Elephants are strange animals and need to be 
very carefully trained and kindly treated. There 
is a story that once in Ceylon a newly-caught ele- 
phant, when required to draw a wagon, felt this 
to be such an indignity that he lay down between 
the shafts and died ! 

Perhaps his relations in India are not quite so 
proud and sensitive, for in that country we find 
them doing a great deal of hard work. They 
move large logs of wood, carry heavy burdens, 
and also drag cannon. At times, even, they may 
be seen taking the place of steam-engines and 
drawing railway trucks along the line. In fact, 
there is nothing in the way of hard and heavy 
work that the elephant cannot do. 



CHAPTER V 

THE CONVEYANCES OF CHINA AND JAPAN 

ONE is always accustomed to think of China 
as a strange, topsy-turvy country, where 
everything is marvellous and unexpected, 
so that it is no surprise to find there many queer 
conveyances and modes of travel. Even in very 
early times China, or Tartary as it was called 
then, was looked upon as a veritable wonderland, 
and Marco Polo, who explored the country more 
than six hundred yesus ago, gives us a very inter- 
esting description of how the Emperor travelled 
when he went on one of his hunting expeditions. 
This is what he says : 

''The Khan upon his journey is borne upon 
four elephants, in a fine parlour made of timber, 
lined inside with plates of beaten gold and out- 
side with lions' skins. Sometimes, as they go 
along, and the Emperor from his chamber is dis- 
coursing with his nobles, one of the latter will 
exclaim, ' Sire ! Look out for cranes ! ' Then the 
Emperor has the top of his chamber thrown back, 
and having seen the cranes, he casts one of his 

41 



42 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

falcons, and often the quarry is struck in his sight, 
so that he himself has the most exquisite sport as 
he sits in his chamber or lies on his bed. I do 
not believe that there ever existed a man with 
such sport or enjoyment as he has." 

Modern tourists in China cannot see quite such 
wonderful equipages as this, but the Emperor's 
state palanquin, which was still in use in 1880, 
was a very gorgeous affair, and it was carried by 
lio less than sixteen bearers. 

China has always been a land of ceremony, and 
very strict etiquette is maintained with regard to 
the conveyances of the mandarins. Sedan chairs 
are used, and these vary in colour, decoration, 
and number of carriers, according to the rank of 
the owner. If the mandarin is of a very high 
class he is accompanied on his journeys by a whole 
retinue of servants. One of these carries a large 
open umbrella, a second has a fan attached to a 
pole, while others bear tablets on which the insignia 
of his rank are displayed. It is a great offence 
if a man has more coolies in attendance than those 
to which he is entitled. 

In a wedding procession a beautiful palanquin 
is used to take the bride from her parents' house 
to the home of her future husband. It is painted 
red and ornamented with kingfishers' feathers. 
The little Chinese lady only travels once in this 



CONVEYANCES OF CHINA 



43 



gorgeous conveyance. After her marriage she 
has to be content with an ordinary sedan chair, 
the curtains of which are always tightly drawn so 




CHINESE COUNTRY CHAIR. 



that she can neither see nor be seen as she is carried 
through the streets. 

When an important mandarin travels every- 



44 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

one makes way for him and his imposing retinue, 
but with those of lower rank this is not the case, 
and it is one of the duties of his bearers to keep 




MULE PALANQUIN. 



up a constant succession of loud shouts and com- 
mands such as ' ' Mind your back ! " '^ Move to 
the right ! " '* Get out of the way ! " As may be 
imagined the streets of a Chinese town are very 



CONVEYANCES OF CHINA 



45 



noisy, for they are narrow and crowded with a 
motley throng of people, among whom are porters 
with heavy packs on their shoulders, itinerant 




WHEELBARROW OMNIBUS. 



merchants carrying their wares in baskets slung 
on long poles, beggars, and children of all sizes 
and ages. 



46 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 




A TRAVELLING TRADESMAN. 



Besides these private sedan chairs there are 
others which may be hired. These are fairly 
comfortable, being provided with cushions and 



CONVEYANCES OF CHINA 47 

having a narrow shelf on either side on which the 
passenger can rest his arms. In countrj^ districts, 
however, the traveller has to be content with a 
simpler conveyance, consisting of a roughly made 
bamboo chair attached to long poles. 

Sometimes much larger palanquins are seen. 
These will hold several people and are carried by 
two mules or ponies. 

In China, rickshaws, which are wheeled chairs 
drawn by one or more coolies, are also used, their 
name coming from the Chinese word jin-li-che, 
which means ' ' man-power-carriage . ' ' These little 
vehicles are convenient, but in many cities the 
streets are so narrow that they cannot be em- 
ployed. Then it is that we find the quaint wheel- 
barrows, which are, perhaps, the strangest con- 
veyances in the whole world. These wheel- 
barrows are used both to carry passengers and 
merchandise. Those intended for the former 
purpose have a very large wheel, on either side of 
which is a seat arranged rather in the fashion of 
an Irish jaunting car. Below the seat a cord is 
suspended on which the feet of the travellers can 
rest. Two, four, six, or even, sometimes, as 
many as eight native women can be carried, and 
the coolie who pushes the barrow has a strap 
across his shoulders which eases his arms of some 
of the weight. Occasionally hooded wheelbarrows 



48 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

are seen, and for them a second coolie in front is 
employed. 

In Northern China donkeys and bullocks often 
drag these strange, one-wheeled carts. The 




- ' V" ^ 



CHINESE CART. 



roads are so bad that it is almost impossible for 
larger vehicles to be used, although sometimes 
we see a native family with their household goods 



CONVEYANCES OF JAPAN 



49 



moving from one place to another in a rough 
wagon drawn by an ox and a donkey harnessed 
side by side. 







JAPANESE RICKSHAW. 



From China we travel still fm^ther east, and in 
Japan, the Land of the Rising Sun, other curious 
and picturesque conveyances are to be seen by the 

4 ' 



50 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

fortunate tourist who is able to journey so far 
afield. 

Horses are very little used in this country, and 
the Chinese jin-li-che is the principal conveyance, 
its name being now changed into jin-ri-che or 
jinricksha. Very charming these little vehicles 
look, as they career through the streets of a town, 
or under the blossom-covered cherry-trees of a 
country road, especially if the wheels are painted 
scarlet, and if the passengers are two dainty little 
Jap maidens, with gay obis round their waists and 
flowers decking their smooth, dark heads. 

The coolies who draw the jinrickshas are also 
picturesque in their blue cotton clothes, and in 
winter-time they wear most extraordinary straw 
cloaks which make them look like small moving 
haystacks. 

Another interesting Japanese conveyance is 
the kago. This is a small, hammock-shaped litter 
made of cane and bamboo, suspended to a strong 
pole. There is an awning overhead, and on this 
the light luggage of the passenger — a pair of 
straw shoes, a bouquet of chrysanthemums, or a 
bundle tied up in a brightly coloured handker- 
chief — is carried. 

The bearers of a kago are two stalwart, bare- 
legged men, and they always carry long sticks in 
their hands. 



CONVEYANCES OF JAPAN 51 

This curious type of litter is much used by the 
Japanese themselves, but not by Europeans, as 
the occupant of a kago has to sit with his knees 
doubled up in what seems to Western ideas a 
most uncomfortable position. 

There are other strange conveyances to be 
seen in Japan, one of the most interesting of all 
being the Imperial chariot which has its place in 
great religious processions. It is drawn by a 
black bull, and is decorated with the Mikado's 
crest, a sixteen-petalled chrysanthemum. 



CHAPTER VI 

JOURNEYS THROUGH AFRICA 

FROM the Cape to Cairo." We have all 
heard of the wonderful railway which 
some day is to run all the way from Table 
Bay to Egypt, and is to carry passengers in ease 
and luxury through the heart of Darkest Africa. 
That will be in the future, no doubt ; but, even if 
the railway were already finished, it would surely 
be more interesting to travel in the old-fashioned 
ways, and, even if it necessitated hardships and 
fatigue, see something of the great continent and 
of its inhabitants. 

Let us suppose, then, that we start on our 
journey from Cape Town, and, ignoring the rail- 
way which already could carry us far into Central 
Africa, put the clock back for fifty years, or more, 
and engage one of the great bullock wagons in 
which the old colonists made their adventurous 
pilgrimages. 

A traveller who journeyed through South 
Africa in 1846 gives an interesting account of his 
conveyance and experiences. 

52 



JOURNEYS THROUGH AFRICA 53 

''In travelling by wagon one gets along 
slowly/' he says. ''Twenty miles a day is 




CAPE BULLOCK WAGON. 



reckoned moderate, and two and a half miles an 
hour is the usual rate of progress. Cooking 



54 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

utensils, as a kettle, a gridiron, and a pot, accom- 
pany the wagon. Bedding is also a part of the 
travelling appurtenances, and is either made up 
at night in the body of the wagon or in the open 
country, according to the weather." 

This description sounds pleasant and comfort- 
able enough, but the men and women who in 
those days set out across unexplored country in 
search of new homes often liad to endure hard- 
ships and face terrible dangers, for the Kaffirs and 
Zulus were fierce and warlike, and they often 
attacked and murdered the newcomers. 

As a safeguard against these enemies the 
colonists used to arrange their wagons at night in 
a circle, and within the primitive fort, or laager as 
it was called, they would make their camp and 
light watch-fires to frighten away lions and other 
beasts of prey. 

South African wagons are very large and have 
canvas hoods. Whole families can travel in them 
comfortably, and sometimes as many as sixteen 
oxen are used. 

North of Cape Colony is Natal, the oldest of 
the British possessions in South Africa, and now 
we will leave our quaint, old-world wagon and 
pay a visit to the port of Durban as it is to-day. 

Here we shall see careering along the streets or 
waiting to be hired, some very strange little 



JOURNEYS THROUGH AFRICA 55 

— -^x?^ 1 



DURBAN RICKSHAW. 



vehides indeed, and shall hardly recognise them 
at first as our old friends the rickshaws of Japan 
and Ceylon. When we look more closely, how- 



56 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

ever, we shall see that the rickshaws themselves 
are just the same as those which speed along the 
red roads of Colombo or under the cherry blossoms 
of Yokohama. 

It is the men who drag them that are extra- 
ordinary, for the Kaffir rickshaw boys of Durban 
wear the most amazing costumes and deck them- 
selves out in queer finery of all sorts. Beads, 
scraps of ribbon, feathers, all these are pressed 
into the service, and very often as a finishing touch 
of grandeur the boys fasten buffalo horns on to 
their woolly heads. 

Leaving Natal behind us, we ,will go up country 
beyond the reach of railway lines. There travel- 
lers have to make their journeys in Cape carts, 
which are two-wheeled vehicles drawn by a pair 
of mules and driven by a Basuto. These natives 
are among the finest drivers in the whole world, 
and they will whip up their mules and dash reck- 
lessly up hill and down dale, no matter how rough 
the road may be, or even, as often happens, if 
there is no road at all. 

There is no brake to a Cape cart, and the 
harness is frequently rotten or mended with scraps 
of string or tape, but nothing seems to matter, 
and the Basuto will generally manage to bring 
his passengers and the piles of baggage safely to 
their destinations. 



JOURNEYS THROUGH AFRICA 57 

Occasionally in these districts a more ambitious 
conveyance is provided, this being a coach, much 
Hke the old stage coaches of England in appear- 
ance, drawn by ten mules instead of four smart, 
prancing horses. 

Further north we notice many strange modes 
of travel, such as a white man riding a bullock 
with saddle, harness, and stirrups complete ; or a 
Masai family on the move, the woman leading an 
ox which carries not only her husband but all the 
household goods and chattels. 

At Beira we reach the boundaries of civiUsation 
again, for here a little tramcar may be seen run- 
ning through the streets. It is, however, rather 
a primitive affair and consists only of a light car 
or trolly, on which is room for one passenger, the 
whole being pushed along by a scantily dressed 
native. 

We travel on northward again and reach Khar- 
tum, whence a finished section of the Cape to 
Cairo railway will carry us to Wadi Haifa. Here, 
as throughout Egypt, donkeys are an important 
means of transport, and very smart the little 
animals look with their red leather, humped 
saddles, large stirrups, and the blue bead neck- 
laces which are worn to protect them from the 
Evil Eye. The poorer inhabitants of Egypt and 
the Sudan have to be content with more simply 



58 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

attired mounts, and they either use a rough pad 
as a saddle or else ride bare-back. 




BEIRA TRAM. 



In Cairo, the old capital of Egypt, we find 
vehicles of all descriptions, for this city is a strange 
mixture of East and West. In the crowded 



JOURNEYS THROUGH AFRICA 59 

streets motor-cars and buffaloes, splendid private 
carriages and long strings of clover-laden camels 
jostle each other, while steam tramcars carry 
tourists to the Pyramids and old Arabs on their 




CAIRO CART. 



tiny donkeys jog contentedly along the road in 
front of the great European hotels. 

The equipage of a rich Egyptian or high official 
is an imposing sight in the streets of Cairo. It is 
preceded by two or more gaily clad servants, or 
saises, who run in front of the horses with long 
sticks in their hands and shout to the pedestrians 



60 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

and the more humble conveyances to get out of 
the way. 

Among these latter, which halt and draw back 
against the wall at the sais's command, we see 
some of the most curious of all the vehicles of 
Egypt, the little flat, two- wheeled carts on which 
native women of the poorer classes are conveyed. 
These carts are drawn by a mule or donkey, led 
by an Arab, and each carries a group of crouching 
women, who sit closely together with their black 
veils drawn over their faces. " An Arab taking 
out his wives for an airing ' '—that is how tourists 
often describe these quaint vehicles, but really 
they are public conveyances, and the native 
women, having paid their fares, are going on 
shopping expeditions to the bazaars or to visit 
their friends in some distant part of the city. 

Nowadays, however, these picturesque convey- 
ances are beginning to be considered old- 
fashioned, and the natives crowd into the electric 
trams which run in all directions through the 
town and into the suburbs beyond. 

Alexandria is even more up-to-date than Cairo, 
for there not only tramcars but motor-omnibuses 
are to be seen. 

Morocco, another country of North Africa, 
although much nearer to Europe, is still very 
much behind the times, and therefore even more 



JOURNEYS THROUGH AFRICA 61 




Ii;i^s.a. ^ 



IN MOROCCO. 



interesting, perhaps, than iVlgeria and Egypt. 
In Tangier, for instance, the streets are so steep 
and rough that only very primitive vehicles can be 



62 HOW l^HE WORLD TRAVELS 

used, and most people, natives and Europeans 
alike, ride either on donkeys, mules, or ponies. 

The Sok, or market-place, in this city is most 
picturesque, for there can be seen groups of pack- 
mules, laden and ready to start off on some long 
journey; ponies with women sitting on strange 
saddles set sideways like chairs, and Arab chiefs 
mounted on their magnificent horses. The 
market-place itself is very curious, with its white- 
washed and narrow gateways, through which the 
mules with their large panniers can scarcely pass. 



CHAPTER VII 

JOURNEYS IN THE NEW WORLD 

FROM the Old World we go to the New, and 
see if we can find any curious vehicles in the 
great continents of America and Australia. 

Beginning with America, as that was the first 
of the new lands to be discovered, we will go back 
to the days when Red Indians lived in the forests 
and rode their wild, hardy ponies across the 
prairies. The Indians had no wheeled convey- 
ances, but they harnessed their ponies to strange 
little sleds, which dragged on the ground and sup- 
ported the long tent poles and heavy loads of 
household gear. 

These Red Indians were very brave but savage 
and treacherous, and they bitterly resented the 
coming of strangers into their land. 

The early settlers lived in constant dread of 
attack and massacre, and they were always armed 
when they cultivated their clearings in the forests 
or ventured further and further afield into the un- 
discovered country of the West. 

The conveyances used by the colonists of North 

63* 



64 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

America were large, hooded wagons, very much 
Uke those to be seen in Africa, and in these prairie 
schooners, as they were sometimes called, the 
pioneers carried their wives and their children out 
into the wilderness. 




AMERICAN TROTTER. 



The wagons were drawn by teams of strong 
horses, mules, or oxen, and large numbers of 
emigrants generally travelled together. This was 
necessary, as small parties would almost certainly 
have been attacked by the Indians. 



JOURNEYS IN THE NEW WORLD 65 

Even when they did travel in company the 
colonists were not always safe, and a man who 




QUEBEC CALECHE. 



went to the West in 1850 tells a terrible story of 
his adventures. 

On this occasion Indian guides were employed 
to lead the way across the passes of the Rocky 
Mountains, and these guides proved to be untrust- 



66 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

worthy and treacherous. One night, when the 
camp was pitched in a forest, nearly all the horses 
were stolen, together with the stores, and then, 
when the emigrants were in this helpless position, 
they were attacked by a band of Indians. After 
that, the story seems like one of the cinema plays 
with which nowadays we are all familiar, for the 
writer tells how he and another man were chosen 
to ride for help to a neighbouring fort, how they 
were pursued by the savages, how they escaped, 
and how, finally, when they returned, it was to 
find that they were too late, and that during their 
absence the wagons had been burnt and the hap- 
less people murdered. 

Even disasters like this did not, however, daunt 
the brave adventurers, and thirteen years later we 
hear of a huge convoy starting westward from 
Chicago. On this occasion many, who could not 
afford to purchase wagons, set out on foot for the 
long journey of more than a thousand miles, drag- 
ging their possessions on little two-wheeled hand- 
carts. 

Times have changed now, and there are many 
railways crossing the great continent. The 
Indians have disappeared from the forests, and 
in the Rocky Mountains gay parties of holiday- 
makers can be seen in the summer-time, riding in 
the same woods where, a century ago, their ances- 



JOURNEYS IN THE NEW WORLD 67 

tors, grimly alert and with guns in their hands 
toiled along on the weary journey that was to 
bring them at last to the wonderful ' ' El Dorado ' ' 
of their dreams, where new homes and fabulous 
riches were to be found. 

At the present time in the western districts the 
men are great riders, and extraordinary feats of 
horsemanship are common among the cowboys on 
some of the cattle ranches. 

The vehicles of modern North America are 
much like those of European countries, but men- 
tion must be made of the curious cars used to show 
off the paces of the celebrated trotting horses. 
These little two-wheeled carts are very lightly 
made, and seem to consist merely of two wheels, 
a small seat, and a pair of shafts. 

In Quebec, Canada, a very smart cab may be 
seen. It is of picturesque appearance, on two 
high wheels, and bears the French name of 
''caleche." 

In South America there are not many curious 
vehicles. A great part of the country is covered 
with tropical forests, and in the south riding is the 
principal means of getting from place to place. 
Mules and oxen are used as beasts of burden, and 
in some districts quaint-looking animals called 
llamas are also employed. These creatures, 
which most of us have seen in zoological gardens. 



HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 




LLAMAS. 



are very hardy and can carry heavy loads on their 
backs. 

Not far from the coast of America is Cuba, and 
here bullock wagons suitable to the tropical 



JOURNEYS IN THE NEW WORLD 69 

climate of the island are used, with shady roofs 
made of palm-leaves. These are driven by 
negroes, who urge on the animals with long, iron- 







CUBAN VOLANTE. 



pointed goads. The reins are attached to the 
ends of the bullock's horns. 

In the streets of Havana, the capital of Cuba, 
hooded carriages called volantes, or kitrins, are 
seen. They are drawn by two horses or mules, 
one being harnessed between the shafts while the 



70 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

other is outside on the left. Sometimes three 
horses are driven abreast. These vehicles are 
very curious in appearance, for they have enor- 
mous wheels and shafts that are over fifteen feet 
in length. The horses are ridden by negro pos- 
tilions, ,who sometimes wear gorgeous scarlet 
liveries ornamented with gold lace, and jack-boots 
that reach almost to their waists. 

From Cuba we can travel east or west, sailing 
either round the Horn or the Cape of Good Hope, 
but whichever direction we choose our ship comes 
at last to the great island continent of Australia. 
There we find, in the large towns such as Sydney 
and Melbourne, tramways, motor-cars, and even 
the old familiar hansom cabs of the London 
streets. 

Australia has not any strange vehicles of its 
own, for when discovered it was inhabited only by 
savages, and it had no animals that could be used 
as beasts of burden. These latter have, however, 
been imported and acclimatized, and now horses 
and cattle may be seen everywhere, while, if we 
travel across the sandy plains of the west, we meet 
long lines of heavily laden camels that look as if 
they had marched straight out of the Sahara or 
the Arabian deserts. 

The horses of Australia are now famous all over 
the world, and the Colonial riders are as cele- 



JOURNEYS IN THE NEW WORLD 71 

brated. Indeed, in many districts men almost 
live in the saddle, for in the great southern con- 




AUSTRALIAN BOUNDARY RIDER. 



tinent estates are measured not by acres but by 
hundreds of miles, and the shepherds and boun- 



72 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

dary riders often have to ride long distances in 
their day's work. 

An Austrahan horseman ''up country" is a 
very picturesque figure with his slouched felt hat, 



COUNTRY COACH, AUSTRALIA. 



his rolled scarlet blanket, and the tin billy-can 
dangling from his saddle. 

There are not, as yet, many railways in the 
more thinly inhabited districts of Australia, and 



JOURNEYS IN THE NEW WORLD 73 

travellers drive in coaches drawn by two or four 
horses. Other vehicles are the buggies, light two- 
wheeled conveyances which can be used where 
there are few roads and the tracks through the 
bush are rough and steep. 



CHAPTER VIII 

TRAVELLING IN THE WILDS 

AFTER seeing the strange conveyances and 
modes of travel in Europe and in the civi- 
Hsed countries of Asia, it will be interesting 
to leave the beaten tracks behind us altogether 
for a time. We w^ill go beyond the high roads 
and the railways, and find out how people make 
journeys in the great wildernesses of the world, 
where travellers must be prepared to undergo dis- 
comforts and hardships, to meet with dangers, 
and, very often, to carry their lives in their hands. 

If we open our atlases and turn to the maps of 
Africa, America, Asia, and Australia, we shall 
find that in each continent there are blank 
spaces. Sometimes these are called deserts or 
forests, but often we can only guess at the char- 
acter of the country from the fact of there being 
no rivers marked and very few names of towns 
and cities. 

The most famous of all deserts is the Great 
Sahara, which extends for thousands of miles 
across the north of Africa. Most people picture 

74 



TRAVELLING IN THE WILDS 75 

it as a huge sandy plain, where there is no water 
and no sign of hfe or vegetation ; but, in reaUty, 
although there are districts where the shifting 
sandhills stretch away as far as the eye can see, a 
vast part of the Sahara consists of a stony table- 
land covered with a scanty growth of low, thorny 
bushes. 

In the deserts there are, moreover, many fer- 
tile spots looking like exquisite little green islands 
set in the midst of a glowing, yellow sea. They 
are called oases, and are found where there are 
wells or pools of water. Arabs live in these 
places, cultivating the land and building mud- 
houses, while other tribes spend their time in 
wandering about the desert, seeking food for their 
animals and trading in the scattered towns and 
villages. These wanderers, or nomads, with their 
camels, horses, and herds of sheep and goats, may 
be seen slowly moving across the great sunburnt 
plain and pitching their brown tents at night 
among the sand-dunes. 

The nomadic Arabs travel in large parties called 
caravans, for there are brigands in the Sahara 
who would rob and murder lonely wayfarers. 
The men in the caravan often ride, and their 
horses are considered the finest in the whole 
world. The Arabs prize these horses highly and 
treat them well, never allowing them to be teased 



76 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 




MIXED TRANSPORT IN NIGERIA. 



TRAVELLING IN THE WILDS 77 

by the children, and, at the end of a long day's 
journey, giving them their meal of milk and dates 
before they eat anything themselves. 

Horses, how^ever, are only used for riding, and 
all the hard work is done by the camels, "the 
ships of the desert," as they are called. It is a 
strange sight to see a great caravan crossing the 
desert, sometimes as many as a thousand camels 
marching along in single file, each with a heavy 
load on his back. 

Camels are strange animak, for although they 
are strong and have wonderful powers of endur- 
ance, they are surly, intractable, and even more 
obstinate than mules. Occasionally a camel will 
consider that he is overloaded, and lying down will 
snarl at his driver and refuse to move. Blows 
and commands are useless in such a case, but if the 
driver pretends to remove something from the 
burden the animal is often completely deceived, 
and thinking that he has outwitted his master and 
gained a victory, will rise to his feet and start off 
contentedly on the journey. 

One of the greatest dangers of desert travel is 
lack of water, for wells are very few and far apart. 
Camels are particularly suited to these conditions, 
as they can live for several days without drinking, 
and when no water is forthcoming, will plod 
patiently on and on, until their strength is ex- 



78 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 




CAMEL WITH BRIDAL BOWER. 



TRAVELLING IN THE WILDS 79 

hausted and they fall down beneath their heavy 
loads. 

It will be noticed in a caravan that some of the 
camels carry extraordinary fan-shaped palanquins 
on their backs. These contain the Arab ladies, 
whose religion obliges them to be veiled, and who 
can thus travel securely screened from sight. In 
the deserts of Asia the women ride in a much 
more airy and comfortable fashion, being provided 
with cushioned panniers slung on either side of 
the camel's back and sheltered by a light awning. 
On the occasion of a wedding in the Nile Delta 
district, the bride is carried on a camel in a curious 
erection shaped like a Red Indian wigwam and 
decorated with a large tuft of palm-leaves. 

From the deserts we go to the great tropical 
forests, and there, although there is plenty of 
water and shelter from the fierce rays of the sun, 
travellers have to encounter new difficulties, new 
hardships, and new dangers. 

Those of us who have seen only woods in our 
own islands can hardly imagine what one of the 
great forests of Central Africa, America, or Asia 
is like, with its huge trees, strange plants, and hot, 
steamy atmosphere, dank with the smell of rotting 
vegetation and stagnant water, or heavy with the 
overpowering fragrance of some tropical blossom. 
It is almost dark, for the foUage is dense, and the 



80 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 




CARRIERS IN THE FOREST. 




Palaxquix for Arab Women. 



TRAVELLING IN THE WILDS 81 

trees are, moreover, hung with matted curtains 
of creepers, while below is a tangled undergrowth, 
so tall and thick that pathways have to be cut 
through it inch by inch. 

The travellers must needs walk single file 
through these narrow tracks, and they must be 
always armed and on their guard against the dan- 
gerous wild animals that live in those weird, 
gloomy jungles. Leopards, fierce gorillas, and 
rhinoceros, all have their homes in those dark 
thickets, and there are besides great herds of ele- 
phants that if alarmed will charge through the 
forest and trample the intruders underfoot. 

In addition to these perils the natives are often 
unfriendly, and there have been many instances 
of cruelty and murder. 

In these districts it is, of course, impossible to 
use wagons or any large vehicles, and the climate 
is unhealthy for horses and cattle. Negroes, 
therefore, act as carriers and march along the 
narrow paths with heavy loads on their heads. 
These natives are very strong, and may be seen 
carrying large bales, boxes, and even bicycles 
through the jungle. 

The Europeans of the party either walk too, 
or are carried in hammocks slung on poles. An 
awning is fixed over the hammock, and the occu- 
pant can lie down comfortably while he is borne 

6 



82 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

along by two or more negro porters. Wounded 
men or those ill with fever are often taken for 
many miles in this fashion, and in Nigeria special 



— ^ — K^ 







MONO-RAIL WORKED BY NATIVES. 



hospital hammocks are provided for this purpose 
on which the familiar red cross may be seen. 

The natives of these tropical forests either carry 
their merchandise and other burdens themselves, 



TRAVELLING IN THE WILDS 83 

or have light conveyances suited to the narrow 
tracks that are the only roads of the country. The 
Sobo negroes of West Africa have a very 
ingenious arrangement, and often three or four 
of them may be seen walking in single file and 
carrying a long pole on their shoulders. From 
this pole are hung jars, bundles, and baskets of 
fruit and vegetables. 

In another district a still more curious device is 
used. This is a single railway line running be- 
tween two towns, on which light trucks can travel. 
These trucks have two wheels each, one behind 
the other, and to each truck is fastened a pole 
which projects on the left-hand side. Negroes 
walk beside the hne, holding the poles and thus 
driving the cars along. 

In regions where the forest is less dense and the 
climate more dry and healthy, animals can be 
used, and sometimes strange teams are seen — 
camels, donkeys, and oxen being all pressed into 
the transport service. 



CHAPTER IX 

THROUGH ICE AND SNOW 

IN the Arctic regions, far beyond the reach of 
railways, and where even the sea is frozen 
during many months of the year, we find 
strange conveyances and means of travel, for in 
those desolate lands there are no roads. Even if 
a track is made it may, within a few hours, be 
covered with drifting snow and entirely lost. 

Horses and oxen cannot live in the bitter 
climate of the north, so carriages, or any other 
wheeled conveyances, are useless. Travellers, 
therefore, must needs adapt themselves to the 
conditions of weather and country, and either 
invent new means of locomotion or else borrow 
ideas from the original inhabitants of those bleak, 
snow-clad lands. 

The first Arctic explorers described their ex- 
periences in the Polar regions, and life among the 
Esquimaux has changed very little since those 
pioneer days when Frobisher and Sir Humphrey 
Gilbert set sail in search of a new route to India 
and the East. 

84 



THROUGH ICE AND SNOW 85 

" They are a very strong people and warlike," 
the historian of Frobisher's expedition wrote in 
1577. ''They go in coats made from the skins 
of beasts. They travel in sledges drawn by dogs, 
and move from place to place in quest of food." 

The dogs seen then by the adventurous English- 
men and still used by the natives are sturdy, 
rough-haired animals, rather like large shaggy 
collies in appearance. They are very strong and 
hardy, and are able to drag heavy loads for long 
distances. Esquimaux sledges were often nearly 
twelve feet long and had runners made of the jaw- 
bones of whales or of pieces of wood strongly 
lashed together. 

Arctic travellers soon found that if they wished 
to journey far into the Polar regions they must 
needs adopt native customs, so they bought 
sledges and either dragged them themselves 
or hired guides and teams of dogs. It is no 
easy matter to drive one of these Esquimaux 
sledges, for the dogs are harnessed in single file 
and are only controlled by the voice of the driver 
or by the long flexible whip which he carries. The 
speed at which a sledge can be drawn depends very 
much on the condition of the snow, but if it is 
hard and smooth forty or fifty miles can be 
covered in a single day. 

After Sir John Franklin's expedition had dis- 



86 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 




ICE-BOAT. 



appeared in the unknown Arctic world, many 
parties set out in search of him. The leader of 
one of these, Captain Austin, tried a new means 



THROUGH ICE AND SNOW 87 

of progression, and on one occasion attached sails 
and large kites to His sledges. This experiment 




REINDEER AND SLEDGE. 



seems to have met with some success, but we do 
not hear of it being attempted again, although 
ice-boats are sailed as an amusement during the 



88 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 




EXPLORERS DRAGGING SLEDGE. 



winter months on the frozen lakes and rivers of 
Canada and the United States. Snow-shoes are 



THROUGH ICE AND SNOW 89 

.widely used in Canada during the winter. 
Hunters and trappers make long journeys over 
the snow in search of fur or visiting their traps. 

Of late years explorers have turned their atten- 
tion to the South Pole, and in Antarctic regions 
not only dogs but small, hardy ponies have been 
employed. 

In Lapland, the most northern country of 
Europe, the natives keep large herds of reindeer, 
and they use these animals to draw their sledges, 
which are shaped like boats, being flat at the back 
and with high-pointed prows. The reindeer are 
harnessed by leather traces fastened to their 
collars, and the reins are tied to their horns. The 
harness is hung with small bells which jingle 
merrily as the sledge flies across the hard snow. 
Old writers say that these animals were so swift 
that they could carry their masters for two hun- 
dred miles in a single day. This, of course, is 
merely a traveller's tale, but they can really go 
fifty or sixty miles in twenty-four hours. 

Sledges are used in other European countries 
and especially in Russia, where the winters are 
long and hard. The Russian sledges are very 
picturesque, with their four horses harnessed 
abreast and their drivers wearing great padded 
coats and fur gloves to protect them from the 
intense cold. Sledging in Russia is, however, not 



90 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 




LNDIAN TRAPPER ON SNOW-SHOES. 



THROUGH ICE AND SNOW 91 

without its dangers, and there are many stories 
of travellers who have been frozen to death, and 
of others who have been overtaken and killed by 
wolves as they drove across the snow-covered 
plains and through the forests. 

A writer of fifty years ago tells us of an ex- 
citing experience which he and a fellow-traveller 
had when journeying in the Volga district after a 
heavy snowstorm. 

It was early morning when they started, and 
the road was a very lonely one. They had not 
gone far when six large wolves were seen, and 
although these animals were frightened away by 
a handful of burning hay being flung among them 
— for wolves cannot bear the sight of fire — they 
soon returned. Others joined them, and before 
long the sledge was tearing across the snow with 
a whole pack in close pursuit. The horses were 
terrified and the position seemed a hopeless one, 
but fortunately the travellers were armed, and 
when they had managed to shoot four of the 
wolves the others dispersed. 

Sledges are also used in Austria, Germany, and 
Holland, and in many museums quaint old Dutch 
sledges can be seen, shaped like armchairs and 
richly gilded and painted. 

These dainty sleds were pushed, not drawn, and 
in them the fair-haired Dutch maidens of former 



92 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

days were taken for merry excursions by their 
brothers and boy friends along the smooth high- 
ways of the frozen canals. 




ENGLISH SLEDGE. 



In England the winters are very seldom cold 
enough for sledging to be indulged in, but still it 
is not entirely unknown. An English sledge is, 



THROUGH ICE AND SNOW 



93 



as a rule, more lightly built than those of other 
countries and is higher from the ground. It is 




A HAPPY PARTY IN AUSTRALIA. 

drawn by one or more horses and the harness is 
hung with little bells. 



94 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

We most of us think of Australia as a very 
warm, almost a tropical land, and it is quite a sur- 
prise to learn that even our cousins "Down 
Under" can sometimes enjoy real winter sports. 
Our illustration, however, shows us that this is 
the case, for here we see a picture of a sledge at 
Kosciusko, New South Wales, taken, perhaps, on 
some cold June mid- winter day. Kosciusko is 
situated in one of the mountainous districts of 
Australia, and there ice and snow — as we see in 
the picture — are by no means unknown. This 
sledge is low on the ground with two seats, one 
behind the other, and it is drawn by a pair of 
sturdy ponies. 



CHAPTER X 

STRANGE TRAVEL IN STRANGE LANDS 

WE have been to many countries and have 
seen many modes of travel, but there are 
still places, scattered over the globe, 
which have not been visited and yet which have 
strange and interesting vehicles of their own. 
Let us imagine, then, that we are taking a hurried 
voyage round the world, stopping here and there 
for a few moments to see those lands which we 
have left out on our previous tours. 

We will start from Plymouth, and sail south- 
ward until we come to the beautiful Portuguese 
island of Madeira, and here some very curious 
conveyances are to be seen. These are the carros, 
light carts made of basket-work, which, instead of 
having wheels, are mounted on runners like sleds. 

It seems very strange at first to think of sledges 
in connection with a country which boasts a semi- 
tropical climate, and where, except in the moun- 
tains, ice and snow are unknown, but the quaint 
carro is well-suited to its conditions and slides 
smoothly over the steep, paved roads. 

95 



96 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

Two kinds of these sleds are used in Madeira. 
The bullock carros, which are comfortably pro- 
vided with springs, awnings, and curtains, and the 
more simple carros da monte, that look like large 
toboggans and run at a great speed down the hills. 
Hammocks are also used in the island to carry 




BULLOCK CARRO, MADEIRA. 

travellers into districts where rough and winding 
paths make the carro impracticable, and bullock 
carts are to be seen on the farms and vineyards. 
Some of these carts are very picturesque, espe- 
cially those on which huge casks are carried. 
In St. Michael's and the other islands of the 



TRAVEL IN STRANGE LANDS 97 




TRAVELLING HAMMOCK, MADEIRA. 



Azores, there are very curious bullock carts made 
of basket-work, with solid wheels. 

7 



98 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 




CARRO DA MONTE, MADEIRA. 



From the Azores, or Westward Islands, we 
journey on until we come to the West Indies, 



TRAVEL IN STRANGE LANDS 99 

where, in Jamaica, we find that large, four- 
wheeled wagons are used in the sugar plantations. 
These have high sides so that great quantities of 




BULLOCK CART, AZORES. 



the canes can be carried, and are drawn by four 
or six oxen. 

Small donkeys with panniers also have their 
share of work in Jamaica, but the negro inhabi- 



100 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

tants do much of their transport for themselves, 
and on market days chattering crowds of women 
may be seen making their way into the towns with 
great baskets of fruit or heavy bundles tied up in 
gay bandana handkerchiefs on their woolly heads. 

After seeing the islands of the Atlantic Ocean 
we skirt round Africa and come to Madagascar, 
where we find litters in use which are much like 
those we have already seen in many countries and 
in many ages. A traveller who visited Madagascar 
in 1861 describes a royal procession when the 
queen rode in a palanquin that was richly gilt and 
embroidered with gold and scarlet. 

We now cross Asiatic Turkey and reach to 
Persia, where, if we wish to see the country, we 
must engage horses for ourselves and baggage- 
mules to carry our goods and chattels. A traveller 
who went from Trebizond to Erzeroum in 1862 
made the journey in this fashion, and a very 
romantic experience it must have been, for the 
scenery traversed was hilly and picturesque, and 
the climate left nothing to be desired. "Our 
caravan passed cheerfully along," he says, "the 
bells on our horses jangling merrily and the mule- 
teers singing their chanting songs and entertain- 
ing each other with marvellous narratives. Much 
in the same way as we were travelling then, the 
old Crusaders rode to Palestine." 



TRAVEL IN STRANGE LANDS 101 

At that time, more than fifty years ago, the 
Bagdad railway had not been begun and riding 




MADAGASCAR LITTER. 



was the only means of getting about the country. 
The same writer describes the gorgeously capari- 
soned horses with purple silk bridle reins and 



102 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

silver harness, on which the high officials of Persia 
rode through the streets of Teheran, and goes on 
to say that the people might be called a nation of 
horsemen, for even the royal despatches of the 
Shah and the public documents were dated 
"From the King's Stirrup." 

Among other interesting sights to be seen in 
the towns of Persia are the itinerant beggars 
mounted on small humped bullocks, and the large 
panniers slung on to the backs of mules in which 
women travel. 

These panniers, which are closely covered, look 
as if they would be very airless and uncomfort- 
able, but in them long journeys are made, and 
the mules thus loaded may be met in company 
with bullock-carts and long lines of camels on the 
great caravan road which leads from Persia into 
the heart of Central Asia. 

In Afghanistan women and children travel on 
camels, wooden panniers being hung on either 
side of the animal's hump, while betw^een them is 
a kind of platform sheltered by a little tent-like 
awning. 

On we go, through Thibet and over the Hima- 
layas, where we see shaggy yaks coming across 
the steep passes with heavy loads on their backs, 
and so reach India, the strange vehicles of which 
have been already described. 



TRAVEL IN STRANGE LANDS 103 

There was, however, one province which was 
omitted when we visited India before, and this is 
Pondicheriy, which belongs to France and is the 
only district of the great peninsula not under 
British dominion. In this place a very original 
conveyance called the push-push is to be seen. It 




PONDICHERRY PUSH-PUSH. 



is a light carriage with wheels, springs, and awn- 
ing complete, but instead of being drawn by a 
horse it is, as its name implies, pushed from 
behind by two stalwart natives. 

East of India, across the Bay of Bengal, is 
Burmah, a country where, as in Japan, everything 
seems to be picturesque and artistic. Here we 



104 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

see little gaily clad women driving in charming 
two-wheeled carts which have gracefully curved 
fronts like the bows of a boat. Over the heads of 
the passengers is arranged an umbrella-shaped 
awning, and the bullocks which draw these dainty 
conveyances wear elaborately decorated harness 
and have collars hung with tinkling bells. 

From Burmah our journey takes us to Siam, 
where elephants are used both for transport pur- 
poses and to carry travellers into the mountains 
and forests of the interior. The howdahs of these 
elephants are very curious, having large hoods 
which project both in front and at the back. 

Leaving the continent of Asia we cross the sea 
to the Dutch island of Java, where the women 
ride in palanquins suspended from a long pole and 
carried by two or four porters. Hammocks, 
which are very much like the kagos of Japan, are 
also used, and there are quaint ox-carts with little 
pent roofs and rough wheels made out of solid 
slabs of wood. 

Not very far from Java are the Philippine 
Islands, which now belong to America. Here 
strange-looking animals called water-buffaloes, or 
carabaos, are employed to draw clumsy wooden 
carts. The carabao is guided by a cord attached 
to a ring in his nose, the driver sitting either on 
the shaft of the cart or on the animal's back. 



CHAPTER XI 

TRAVEL OF YESTERDAY AND TO-DAY 

AT the present time, when England, and 
indeed almost the whole of the civilised 
^ world, is covered with a network of rail- 
ways, and the cuttings, the tunnels, and the high 
embankments seem almost to be physical features 
of the landscape that we see around us, it is diffi- 
cult to realise that a hundred years ago none of 
these things were in existence. Our great-grand- 
fathers and great-grandmothers, as we have seen, 
had to be content with very different modes of 
travel, and would have been amazed if they had 
been told that it would be possible before very 
long to make the journey from London to York 
in a few hours. 

It is said that Lord Worcester in the reign of 
Charles II. was one of the first scientists to experi- 
ment with steam engines, and about a century 
later James Watt improved and utilised this 
invention. We Have all heard of the little Scotch 
boy who used to sit watching the steam coming 

105 



106 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

from the spout of a boiling kettle, who puzzled his 
head over its power and who, when he grew up, 
worked hard in order to earn money and be able 
to carry out his experiments. 

The first railway was opened in 1825, but 
before that the steam engine invented by Watt 
had been in use for some time in collieries. One 
of these early engines, which was called " Puffing 
Billy," can still be seen in a London museum. 

The railway trains of ninety years ago, won- 
derful as they were considered then, were very 
different from those of to-day, for there were no 
comfortable carriages with windows and cushioned 
seats, and the passengers had to travel in open 
wagons. There were no waiting rooms or plat- 
forms either, and the speed was very moderate, 
fifteen to twenty miles an hour being thought 
marvellous and even dangerous. 

This is what a writer says in the year 1837 : 
' ' The length of the Liverpool railway is thirty-one 
miles, and the fact that passengers are regularly 
conveyed that distance by locomotive engines in 
one and a half to two hours produced an extra- 
ordinary sensation." 

As the years went on, railways and the trains 
which ran on them improved very quickly and 
stage coaches became hopelessly old-fashioned, 
but for some time a railway journey was some- 



YESTERDAY AND TO-DAY 107 




EARLY ENGINE. 



108 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

thing of an adventure and many strange plans 
were made in order to prevent accidents. 

One of the most eccentric of these ideas was 
that the last carriage or van on a train should have 
a roof sloping backwards towards the ground and 
fitted with railway lines, so that if the train to 




WHITE SUDAN TRAIN. 



which it was attached were overtaken by another, 
there would be no collision, for the second engine 
would run up the sloping roof and travel along 
on the top of the slower train. 

Nowadays, railway travelling has become much 
safer and also more luxurious, and our trains, with 
their sleeping berths and restaurant cars, would 



YESTERDAY AND TO-DAY 109 




MOUNTAIN RAILWAY 



have been considered marvels by the early pas- 
sengers who crowded contentedly into the jolting 



no HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

open trucks of 1839. One of the most interest- 
ing of modern trains is to be seen on the Sudan 
hne. It is painted white for the sake of coolness 
and has wooden Venetian bUnds instead of 
windows. 

At first it was considered impossible for railways 
to be constructed except on level ground, but diffi- 
culties were gradually overcome and for many 
years there have been trains running up the Rigi 
and other mountains. Now a line has been made 
to the summit of the Jung Frau, which is over 
thirteen thousand feet high, and by it tourists can 
be taken far into the region of perpetual snow. 

Towards the end of the nineteenth century a 
new power began to be used, and we hear of loco- 
motives driven not by steam but by electricity. 
Now, although steam has not been ousted from 
the field, there are many electric trains, and in 
almost every city of Europe electric trams run 
through the streets and often far out into the 
country beyond. 

Another invention of the nineteenth century 
which made, as time went on, a new means of 
travel, was the bicycle, but although the first of 
these machines appeared more than a hundred 
years ago, they were very strange-looking con- 
trivances indeed, and were considered ridiculous 
and useless. 



YESTERDAY AND TO-DAY 111 




HIGH BICYCLE. 



112 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

The first of all cycles — if it can be dignified by 
such a name — made it debut in 1808 in Paris. 
It was called a "hobby-horse" and consisted of 
two wheels placed one behind the other, and con- 
nected by a bar on which was a small saddle. The 
rider kept his feet on the ground, and when he 
came to a hill raised them and let the machine 
carry him down. At corners, however, he had 
to lift up the hobby-horse and turn it round. 

The dandy-horse, which had a movable front 
wheel, came next, and then there was a long suc- 
cession of strange inventions, many of which 
hailed from America. One of these consisted of 
a large rocking-horse mounted on two wheels, and 
another had one very large wheel in which the 
rider sat. Some of these machines were pro- 
pelled with the feet, others with the hands. 
Croft's invention was punted along by two long 
poles in the hands of the rider, and Mey's machine 
had a large front wheel in which a dog ran round 
like a squirrel in a cage. 

While experiments were being made with 
these extraordinary contrivances, more practical 
bicycles were already in use. They were called 
velocipedes, or bone-shakers, and very wonderful 
they were thought to be, although to our modern 
eyes the high bicycle of thirty years ago with its 
large front wheel on which the rider was perched 



YESTERDAY AND TO-DAY 113 

and small back wheel, seems almost as curious as 
the quaint hobby-horse of earlier times. 

The present form of bicycle was first made 
towards the end of the last century, after the 




EARLY CYCLE. 



invention of pneumatic tyres, but motor-cycles 
are now beginning to take its place, and we are 
all familiar with these wonderful little vehicles, 
many of which have a side-car for an extra pas- 

8 



114 HOW THE AVORLD TRAVELS 







>-«xi\ 






V'WSg'u 



EARLY MOTOR-CAR. 



senger, and are able to travel at the rate of thirty, 
forty, or even fifty miles an hour. 

From cycles we go to motor-cars, and now 



YESTERDAY AND TO-DAY 115 

when the roads are thronged with these swift con- 
veyances it is strange to think that for a long time 
' ' horseless carriages ' ' were considered an impos- 
sibility and spoken of with jeering incredulity. 

More than a hundred years ago, however, a 
Frenchman invented a steam carriage w^hich could 
travel at the rate of two miles an hour, and 
during the next half-century other vehicles of the 
sort were patented besides several very curious 
mechanical carriages. 

A picture and description of one of these 
appears in a magazine of the time, and we see 
that it was a large carriage mth four wheels. One 
man sits in front, holding what are apparently 
quite useless reins, while a second man, standing 
behind in a kind of box, works a machine with 
his feet and so propels the heavy conveyance 
along. Another and an e^ en more extraordinary- 
looking carriage was invented by a Mr. Boiler in 
1804. It was propelled by a very complicated 
arrangement of large and small cog-wheels. 

Progress was made during the next few years, 
and in 1829 two inventors had constructed a steam 
carriage which could travel at the rate of fifteen 
miles an hour. A little later we learn that there 
v>^as a regular service of steam coaches running 
between Gloucester and Cheltenham. 

After that, however, many years elapsed before 



116 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

horseless carriages came into general use, one 
reason being that such conveyances were heavily 
taxed and subjected to many rules. It was not 
until 1896 that these were altered, and then im- 
mediately there was a change and cars driven by 
steam, electricity, and petrol came into use. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE TRAVEL OF TO-MORROW 

THE travel of to-morrow ! It is a fascinat- 
ing subject, for, as we look backward 
through the last century and see the mar- 
vellous progress that has been made, it is impos- 
sible to believe that now we have come to a stand- 
still. How then shall we travel in the future? 
Will it be in some new form of railway train or 
motor-car, with increased speed and added com- 
fort? Or shall we leave solid earth behind us 
altogether and make our journeys in great air- 
ships and aeroplanes? 

We will begin with the more commonplace 
methods, and consider the possibilities of improve- 
ments and innovations in railway travel. 

Lately a great deal has been said and written 
about the mono-rail, and it seems quite likely that 
alterations will take place in this direction, for a 
single-line railway is comparatively cheap to con- 
struct, and has many other advantages, among 
them that of greatly increased speed. It is esti- 
mated that this could easily reach two miles a 
minute. 

117 



118 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

In Africa we saw a very primitive form of 
mono-railway, and there is another in Algeria, 
where the trucks or baskets filled with agricul- 
tural produce hang on either side of a single line 
and are drawn along by mules. 

A real mono-railway with engines, railway car- 
riages, and trucks is already in existence in Ire- 
land, where it runs between Listowel and Bally- 
bunion. The line is raised some feet from the 
ground, and is about 10 miles in length. The 
engine is a very curious-looking machine, with a 
boiler on each side and two funnels. This is 
arranged so that the weight is evenly balanced. 
There are also methods by which the trains on a 
mono-railway may be steadied by means of a won- 
derful contrivance called a gyroscope. 

Closely allied to the single-line railway is the 
hanging railway, which was first invented to carry 
loads of merchandise or minerals across rivers or 
over rough forest lands where an ordinary line 
would be difficult and expensive to construct. 
There is one of these hanging railways in 
Rhodesia, where a strong wire crosses from bank 
to bank of a river, and carries a chair-shaped seat 
which can hold two passengers. This is dragged 
backwards and forwards by means of a second 
wire. 

Sometimes, instead of wire, rope is used, and 



THE TRAVEL OF TO-MORROW 119 




MONO-RAIL CAR. WITH GYROSCOPE. 



120 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

these rope railways can be seen in use at many 
of the mines in South Africa. 

Other and more elaborate railways in the air 
have been made in Germany, and there is one for 
passengers running between Barmen and Elber- 
field. In this case the single rail is raised on high 
trestles, and the carriage, which looks very much 
like a large tramcar, runs along the line suspended 
beneath the trestles. 

Then, too, we may in the future have railways 
that will take us across the English Channel, 
either through a great tunnel or over a bridge, 
reaching, as was proposed in 1884, from Folke- 
stone to Cape Grisnez. 

A third plan that has been suggested for cross- 
ing to France is that of a submarine bridge, upon 
which a curious construction or platform would 
run, and on this the trains themselves could be 
taken from shore to shore, while still another 
proposal was that large ferry-steaniers should be 
built, on the lower decks of which the trains could 
be carried. 

And now we will leave the earth and look at 
the pictures of airships and the wonderful aero- 
planes, which, although improvements are being 
made ever}^ day, can already travel at an almost 
incredible speed and with a security that only a 
little while ago would have been considered quite 



THE TRAVEL OF TO-MORROW 121 




OVERHEAD TROLLEY. 



122 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

impossible. Nowadays air travel is not only a 
possibility but an accomplished fact, and it is hard 
to realise that it has come about during the last 
twenty years, and that before then practical flying 
machines were unknown. 

From very early times, however, inventors and 
scientists have dreamed and experimented, and 
no less than seven hundred years ago, Roger 
Bacon, one of the most learned men of his day, 
seems to have looked down through the centuries 
and to have actually seen the aeroplanes with 
which we are now familiar. 

" There may be made a flying instrument," he 
says, " so that a man sitting in the midst of the 
instrument and turning some mechanism may 
move some artificial wings so that they may beat 
the air like a bird in flight." 

It was a strange prophecy, but in those far-off 
times — the dark ages we call them — men had 
already fixed their hopes on flight, and school chil- 
dren were trained in the use of wings as in that 
of the globes. 

We are not told what advantages this curious 
accomplishment gave to the little boys and girls 
of the thirteenth century, and, indeed, it may 
have brought them ill-fortune, for in those days 
inventors were often accused of witchcraft, and 
new ideas were looked upon with suspicion. Even 



THE TRAVEL OF TO-MORROW 123 











MONOPLANE, THE FIRST TYPE TO CROSS THE CHANNEL. 



124 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

centuries later, when the first balloons were caus- 
ing great excitement in England, many people 
thought that it was wrong to spurn the laws of 
nature by attempting to fly. 

During the seventeenth and eighteenth cen- 
turies some very strange flying machines were 
made, and even before that time, in the reign of 
James IV. of Scotland, we find that " The Abbot 
of Tungland tuik in hand to flie with wingis." 
The bold Churchman, however, did not succeed in 
his rash venture, but fell from the wall of Stirling 
Castle and broke his thigh. 

In 1709 another monk planned a wonderful fly- 
ing ship which was to carry twelve men besides 
stores of food, and about sixty years later a 
Frenchman made himself *' A whirl of feathers, 
curiously interlaced and extending gradually at 
suitable distances in a horizontal direction from 
his head to his feet." In this eccentric costume 
the would-be bird-man fluttered down from a 
height of seventy feet and escaped uninjured. 

The makers of balloons, meanwhile, met with 
more success, and they bravely experimented with 
their frail contrivances, which at first were filled 
with heated air and necessitated a fire in the 
basket-work car, fed with fuel of chopped straw. 
As may be imagined, many accidents occurred, 
but the inventors went on their way undaunted. 



THE TRAVEL OF TO-MORROW 125 




WATERPLANE, BIPLANE, AND SCOUT BALLOON. 



126 HOW THE WORLD TRAVELS 

and in the middle of the nineteenth century we 
find a man named Nadar constructing an enor- 
mous balloon called the " Giant," which seems to 
have been the forerunner of the great airships of 
to-day. This monster would, we hear, have 
exactly fitted into the dome of St. Paul's Cathe- 
dral. It had a smaller balloon attached to it, and 
below both a car fitted with wheels. This was 
divided into compartments for the captain and 
the passengers, with beds, baggage, and provi- 
sions, while a printing office and a photographer's 
room were included. 

Nadar's ambitions, however, did not stop at this 
marvel. Indeed, the " Giant " was only intended 
to be a means of raising funds for the making of a 
flying machine, which was to be called the aeronef 
and have wings and a screw propeller. 

The difficulty then, and for many years after- 
wards, was to make an engine which at the same 
time should be sufficiently strong and yet light. 
It was not until another fifty years had passed 
that this problem was solved and then we find 
the modern aeroplanes and hydroplanes being 
gradually developed and improved. 

In 1909 a French aviator crossed the Channel 
for the first time, and since then the progress has 
been extraordinary, so that now we think little 
of feats which a dozen years ago would have 



THE TRAVEL OF TO-MORROW 127 

been considered quite outside the bounds of 
possibility. 

Side by side with the aeroplanes, dirigible bal- 
loons have been developed, and we can hardly 
doubt that in the future this mode of travel will 
come to be as safe and almost as commonplace as 
our railways and motor-cars of to-day. 



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